Recommended Reading

In this splendid memoir, Mouw recounts his “adventures” in living out his calling as “a Calvinist who has tried to promote ‘convicted civility,’ a moderate tone in dialoging with people whom we evangelical types disagree with on serious matters, and a posture of learning from what [he sees] … as the scholarly and cultural gifts distributed by God to the larger human community.” He grounds this calling well in the theological perspective of Abraham Kuyper and in the teaching of I Peter 3: 15 that Christians need to “nurture strong convictions about the content of the gospel,” but need to “do this with gentleness and respect”; at the same time acknowledging the difficulty in maintaining this dual commitment.

Thompson, the president and CEO of the New York Times Company, argues that there is a crisis of trust in politics across the Western world which leads to a rise in public anger and decreasing faith in conventional political leaders and parties. Telling the story of how we got from the public language of FDR and Churchill to that of Donald Trump, Thompson attributes this political crisis to a new form of public language that is compressed, immediate, sometimes brilliantly impactful, but robbed of most of its explanatory power.

Sherratt poses a provocative question: How would our practice of politics change if we recognized the suffering love of Jesus as the truest exercise of power? He proposes that “Christ is the rightful ruler of the world who exercises power by suffering and dying for guilty humans,” and, therefore, “all political activity is held to the standard of Christ’s sacrifice.” He surveys major political initiatives and schools of Christian political thought, with a particular emphasis on American politics, and then outlines ways in which Christians in churches can practice faithful political engagement.

Paris notes that conflicts over homosexuality in Christian churches are “difficult and ugly,” In sharp contrast, she proposes that “it is possible to have healthy conflict, to disagree and struggle together in ways that make us better and that make the church stronger.” She argues that “by looking deeply into the nature of religious conflict, we can cultivate practices and values that will mature our abilities as peacemakers, and strengthen our faith and our churches.”

Turkle notes that “we live in a technological world in which we are always communicating and yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection. We turn away from each other and toward our phones. We are forever elsewhere.” In sharp contrast, she argues that “to empathize, to grow, to love and be loved, to take the measure of ourselves and each other, we must be in conversation. It is the most human – and humanizing thing that we do,” and it enables us to “rediscover ourselves.”

This volume edited by Black includes contributions from representatives of five Christian traditions: Anabaptist (Separationist); Lutheran (Paradoxical); Black Church (Prophetic); Reformed (Transformationalist); and Catholic (Synthetic). Each contributor addresses the distinctives of his theological tradition’s political outlook, the role of government within it, the place of individual Christian participation in government and politics, and how churches should (or should not) address political questions.

Norris and Speers call into question the political extremes of entrenched partisan feuding and turning solely to the state and public policy to find solutions to the world’s problems. They suggest that “the church is inherently political, a community defined by its allegiance to a King … and its call is to work alongside others in pursuit of a new way of life.” Based on the stories of their visits to five diverse congregations across the U. S., they present a “positive vision that takes its cues about politics not from the nation-state, but from another political reality: the kingdom of God.”

Former United States Senator Danforth argues that “shared religious values (embraced by those on both sides of the political aisle) can lead us out of the embittered, entrenched state of politics today.” We must move away from a “political system in which the loudest opinions and the most polarizing personalities hold sway,” toward an approach to politics built around “caring for other people.” He concludes that “our willingness to serve more than our self-interest is religion’s gift to politics.”

As reviewer David Gushee says of this “truly beautiful book,” Pohl “moves beyond abstractions about the church as alternative community by offering careful analysis of four core practices that that sustain healthy community: gratitude, promise-keeping, truthfulness and hospitality,” based on “detailed discussions of their biblical-theological dimensions.” She also addresses the complications involved in trying to practice these four virtues in contemporary western cultures.

Like many others, Mann and Ornstein bemoan the acrimony and hyper-partisanship of the present political process, in which America’s two political parties have given up their traditions of compromise, thereby endangering constitutional democracy. They conclude that there is no “silver bullet” solution to this political dysfunction. But they offer a set of useful ideas and reforms, like greater public participation and institutional restructuring of the House and Senate, that will reward problem solving and punish obstruction.

While noting the growing polarization between religious conservatives and secular liberals in contemporary American culture, Putnam and Campbell draw on the results of two comprehensive surveys to identify a web of personal ties that lead to greater interfaith tolerance, despite the so-called culture wars. For example, they point to the strengthening of personal interfaith ties brought about by an increase in interfaith marriage and evidence that “more people than ever are friendly with someone of a different faith or no faith at all.”

Renowned moderate Republican Olympia Snowe recounts her decision to vacate her U. S. Senate seat from Maine because the two parties have become so polarized that they will not look for solutions between extremes, even when it is clear that their own side cannot prevail. She argues for the need for principled compromise and consensus-building and presents concrete proposals for correcting the current political dysfunction, including changing Senate rules and congressional procedures, embarking on real campaign finance reform, and building grassroots movements that reward elected officials for consensus-building.

Dionne crafts an insightful analysis of how hyper-individualism is poisoning our current political atmosphere. He argues that, contrary to the current political climate, the American tradition points not to radical self-reliance and self-interest, but to a balance between our love of individual freedom and our devotion to community. Dionne calls politicians to this challenging quest for balance.

At a time when public discourse is too often harsh, divisive and hateful, Black calls Christians to take a more reasoned and humble approach to politics. She describes key points of tension that make political dialogue so difficult and offers practical, straightforward guidance for how to engage in political discussions, analyze political issues, and evaluate candidates in ways that honor God.

In response to the dysfunctional and bitterly partisan politics in Washington D. C., Wallis calls us to “commitment to a very ancient idea whose time has urgently come: the common good” (p. xi). He derives the idea of the common good from Jesus’s commandment to love our neighbor, and argues that “a commitment to the common good is the best way to find common ground with other people – even those who don’t agree with us or share our faith commitments” (p. xii).

Palmer looks with realism and hope at how to deal with our political tensions for the sake of the common good. He names the “habits of the heart” we need to revitalize our politics and shows how they can be formed in the everyday venues of our lives, all for the sake of restoring a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”

In this volume, two Christians who situate themselves at opposite ends of the political spectrum identify some common ground and then respectfully share their differing perspectives on the roles of government and business and six public policy issues, including health care, abortion, same-sex marriage and immigration.

Countering the rampant unreflective cynicism of our age of metanarrative decline, Arnett and Arneson propose that respect for the other is a basic building block for a public narrative of dialogic civility. Drawing on the work of several prominent theorists, they conclude with the call from Nel Noddings and Robert Bellah that we start by “listening to the stories of others.”

Audi and Wolterstorff present views on the role that religious convictions should have in public debate that reveal some common ground, but significant disagreements. As one reviewer said, “Their debate is itself a model of the richer political discourse our society needs” (Charles Larmore, Columbia University).

Bennett rejects the competitive and self-serving individualism that he perceives as dominant in the academy, and proposes alternative ideals of hospitality, conversation and covenant – hospitality as openness to others; conversation as respectful listening to and talking with those having differing perspectives; and covenant as commitment to each other in public pursuit of a common good.

Claerbaut calls into question the prevailing dogma that faith has no place in the quest for knowledge in higher education. He then considers how to apply a faith-and-learning approach across a broad spectrum of academic disciplines in the physical sciences, the arts and humanities, and the behavioral sciences.

Franke presents a study of plurality and diversity as something intrinsic to the nature of Christianity rather than as something extraneous to it. In the words of one reviewer, he “rescues us from both the rigid dogmatism that constricts God’s truth and the ‘anything goes’ pluralism the trivializes it” (Danielle Shroyer).

Gaede affirms the commitment of Christians to truth and justice. In that context, he considers the issues of multiculturalism and PC (political correctness), helping Christians to understand the current emphasis on diversity and to sort out what they should laud and what they should be wary of in the rush toward tolerance.

This book presents an intelligent, readable, and winsome introduction to the Christian faith as a grace-filled and peaceable way of life, and not as an argumentative and tensely held dogma. The authors intend to engage readers in conversation by posing probing questions throughout their narrative.

A lively conversation between two highly respected Christian doctors, in which agreements and differences are laid bare relative to the controversial issues of abortion, euthanasia, AIDS, and Health Care. In contrast to the typical strident public debate about these difficult issues, Koop and Johnson model the ancient adage that “one must not see eye to eye to walk arm in arm.”

Mouw acknowledges that it is not easy to hold to Christian convictions and treat sometimes vindictive opponents with civility and decency. He presents very helpful insights about what Christians can appreciate about pluralism, the theological basis for civility, and how Christians can communicate with people who disagree with them on critical issues.

Placher examines religion and the search for truth in a pluralistic society. Among the issues he considers are science and its relation to belief, dialogue among various religions, and theological method. This book presents a cogent philosophical/theological foundation for my invitation to respectful conversation.

A collection of essays that evaluates the current condition of public discourse in America and identifies the features and principles that could characterize more productive discourse in the twenty-first century. Essays outline how public conversations can be used to reintegrate fragmented communities and bridge barriers of difference and hostility among communities and individuals.

Stout deals with the timely question as to whether religious perspectives should be permitted in public discourse in America. He carves out a controversial position between those who view religious voices as an anathema to democracy and those who believe democratic society is a moral wasteland because such voices are not heard. Stout calls for public discourse where all voices are welcome and differing perspectives are evaluated on the basis of the cogency of the reasons given in support of any perspective.

Tannen calls into question the pervasive warlike atmosphere that makes us approach anything we need to accomplish as a fight between two opposing sides. Drawing on the work of Amitae Etzioni, she calls for a movement from debate to a “dialogue of convictions” that precludes demonizing those with whom you disagree and focuses on respectfully engaging those holding contrary beliefs without losing touch with the core beliefs about which you are passionate.

Volf proposes “the idea of embrace as a theological response to the problem of exclusion” that distorts “our perceptions of reality…causing us to react out of fear and anger to all those who are not within our (ever-narrowing) circle.” In light of this problem, he proposes that Christians must “take the dangerous and costly step of opening ourselves to the other, of enfolding him or her in the same embrace with which we have been enfolded by God.”

Westphal introduces current philosophical thinking related to interpreting the Bible. He encourages readers to embrace the proliferation of interpretations based on different perspectives as a way to get at the richness of the biblical text.

Schein defines Humble Inquiry as “the fine art of drawing someone out, of asking questions to which you do not know the answer, of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person.” He contrasts Humble Inquiry with other forms of inquiry, notes how the tacit assumptions of U. S. culture favoring pragmatism, individualism and status through achievement lead to a devaluing of the relationship building that is the starting point for Humble Inquiry, and provides cogent advice on how to overcome the cultural, organizational, and psychological barriers that keep us from practicing Humble Inquiry.